Lifting experience
The Hampshire Bowl is different from most grounds. It has the office of the Hampshire County Cricket Club on one side and The Hilton on the other. The Afghanistan team is staying at this hotel, which also houses the media centre. Once in the lift, it can get really confusing for newcomers. It takes a while to get accustomed to and pushing the right buttons. Caught in the lift with a perplexed look on their faces were a couple of Afghanistan players. They were speaking in their language and it seemed they were trying to figure out where to get off to go to the ground. A group of Indian scribes, who had solved the puzzle earlier when they were here for the South Africa match, came to their rescue and told them which floor to get off at.
Using the beard
There is nothing new about cricket teams playing football to warm up before practice sessions. What was seen at Hampshire Bowl on Thursday was a novelty. A group of about eight India players were seen concentrating on keeping the ball in the air while passing it around. Not letting it touch the ground was the goal and they were heard keeping count. Most of the time, it was 30 touches or thereabouts before the ball fell on the turf. Once, it kept rising. “70. One, two... 80. One, two...90. One, two...” Virat Kohli was keeping count as they were nearing 100. Just before three figures, the ball nearly landed on the ground before Ravindra Jadeja’s desperate attempt scooped it up. “Dari se uthaya (used his beard to do that),” came the remark in the mini celebration of bringing up the hundred.
Scouting the opposition
The media box hardly had any occupant during the Indian team’s practice. Among the very few present was a big man. He was Afghanistan coach Phil Simmons. From the quiet confines of the place which came abuzz a few hours later with scribes of different countries, Simmons watched the Indians train. He is not having a good time with the Afghanistan team and has decided against renewing his contract after the World Cup.